Legislation Passed to Strengthen Quality
of Mexican Private Higher Education
(Entry by Juan
Carlos Silas Casillas)
PROPHE Summary
On December 13th, 2005 the Mexican Senate passed legislation to update
the "General Law on Education" and the "Law for the Coordination
of Higher Education." The legislation now moves to the Chamber of
Deputies.
Both laws include requisites for private institutions to obtain or renew
the license to offer higher education degrees. Such institutions will
be required to undergo self-evaluations and external evaluations along
with a plan to keep the accreditation of the programs they offer and the
quality of their teaching faculty. In case of failing, private institutions
will have their license suspended and will be required to reapply in six
months, time in which the institution must show sufficient improvement
in order to obtain the license. A related goal of the legislation is the
construction of a reliable, nation-wide set of criteria regarding higher
education inputs, processes and outputs.
Autonomous public universities in the capital and in each of the states
will be required to undergo a self-evaluation focused on the quality of
their academic programs. In addition, they and public agencies that can
grant licenses to private institutions will be required to conduct evaluations
of the institutions they have licensed "…in order to identify
deficiencies and give them feedback so they can address them and renew
the license."
For the full story (shown with permission), see The Chronicle
of Higher Education, January 4, 2006, "Mexican Lawmakers
Take Steps to Require Accreditation in Bid to Root Out 'Junk Universities',"
by Marion Lloyd.
In aiming to improve the quality of higher education, the legislative
proposal devotes special attention to private institutions. However
desirable the improvement pursued, a major reality is that Mexico has
for decades had many goals and provisions for quality, with disappointing
results. Moreover, some aspects of the legislation need a closer look:
a) Although the legislation mandates that public autonomous institutions
undergo self-evaluations, it does not require them to address any negative
finding or face any consequences (as private institutions do) in case
of not measuring up to standards. Such asymmetry between sectors is
found in many countries where the quality of the public sector is partly
assumed.
b) Evaluations focus on academic programs and their inputs (basically
faculty members and infrastructure). In this sense, the proposed legislation
does not add much to the requisites on contacts hours, degrees of faculty
members and operational aspects stated already in accords in effect
since 2000.
c) Since Mexico lacks a system for the accreditation of institutions,
despite much discussion of the need for it, the new legislation might
divert attention from that pursuit.
It will be interesting to follow the developments in the coming months
and see if the Chamber of Deputies introduces changes. Given the fact
that the legislative changes have been proposed by senators from the
two parties with at least three-quarters of the representation in both
houses, the proposal is likely to carry. If so, the renewed laws will
substantially increase the number of evaluation processes, with hopes
for improving the quality of both private and public institutions.
Information in Spanish is accessible in:
http://www.iesalc.unesco.org.ve/pruebaobservatorio/res_prensa.htm?México/14-12-05(1)
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